Certain menu items drain profits while appearing successful. Through careful menu analysis, you'll identify which dishes hurt your bottom line and should be eliminated.
Restaurant De Eetkamer's fish plate sells 8 times weekly at €28, yet loses €1,820 annually. Hidden profit drains like this exist on most menus. You'll spot them by tracking three key numbers for every dish.
Analyze your current menu
Start with an overview of all your dishes. For each dish you need three numbers: the ingredient costs, the selling price, and the number of sales per week.
💡 Example:
Restaurant De Eetkamer has 25 dishes on the menu:
- Steak: €32.00 - ingredients €11.20 - 45x per week
- Fish plate: €28.00 - ingredients €12.60 - 8x per week
- Pasta carbonara: €18.50 - ingredients €4.80 - 32x per week
Create a spreadsheet with this data for all dishes. This becomes your foundation for spotting problem items.
Calculate the food cost per dish
For each dish you calculate the food cost percentage. This reveals what portion of your selling price gets consumed by ingredients.
Formula: Food cost % = (Ingredient costs / Selling price excl. VAT) × 100
💡 Example calculation:
Fish plate €28.00 incl. VAT:
- Selling price excl. VAT: €28.00 / 1.09 = €25.69
- Ingredient costs: €12.60
- Food cost: (€12.60 / €25.69) × 100 = 49%
This exceeds healthy margins - target range is 28-35%
⚠️ Note:
Always calculate with the price excluding VAT. The price on your menu includes 9% VAT for food.
Identify problem dishes
Dishes with food costs above 35% often drain profits. But other warning signs matter too:
- High food cost: Above 35-40% becomes unsustainable
- Low sales: Fewer than 5-10 times per week
- Complex preparation: Extended cooking time, multiple ingredients
- Seasonal: Expensive ingredients with limited availability
💡 Example problem:
The fish plate from the example:
- Food cost: 49% (dangerously high)
- Sales: 8x per week (poor performance)
- Preparation: 25 minutes (labor intensive)
This dish destroys profitability
From tracking this across dozens of restaurants, dishes combining high food costs with weak sales create the biggest profit leaks.
Calculate the impact on your profit
For each problem dish you calculate how much profit you're losing. This data drives your removal decisions.
Loss per week = (Actual food cost % - Target food cost %) × Selling price excl. VAT × Number of sales
💡 Impact calculation:
Fish plate loss per week:
- Actual food cost: 49%
- Target food cost: 32%
- Difference: 17 percentage points
- Loss per portion: 0.17 × €25.69 = €4.37
- Per week: €4.37 × 8 = €35
Annual loss: €35 × 52 = €1,820
Make the tough choices
Now that you know which dishes drain profits, you have three options per dish:
- Remove: For items with consistent losses and weak sales
- Raise price: If the dish has loyal customers
- Adjust recipe: Substitute cheaper ingredients or reduce portions
⚠️ Note:
Don't remove more than 2-3 dishes at once. Guests need time to adjust to your new menu.
Target dishes that both sell poorly and carry high food costs first. These create maximum profit improvement with minimal customer impact.
How do you discover which dishes you can remove? (step by step)
Make a list of all your dishes
Note for each dish: selling price, ingredient costs and number of sales per week. This gives you a complete overview of your menu.
Calculate the food cost per dish
Use the formula: (Ingredient costs / Selling price excl. VAT) × 100. Dishes above 35% food cost are often money losers.
Identify the biggest loss items
Look for dishes with high food cost AND low sales. This combination costs you the most money and will be missed the least by guests.
Calculate the annual impact
Work out how much each problem dish costs you per year. This helps with the decision to remove, raise prices, or adjust recipes.
Make an adjustment plan
Remove a maximum of 2-3 dishes at a time. For popular but unprofitable dishes, consider raising the price or adjusting the recipe.
✨ Pro tip
Sort your dishes by weekly profit contribution (not just sales volume) and focus on the bottom 20%. These low-profit items often include hidden time-wasters that tie up kitchen staff.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
What food cost percentage should I target for each dish?
Aim for 28% to 35% food cost on most dishes. Above 35% makes profitability difficult once you factor in labor, rent, and other operational expenses.
Should I remove popular dishes with high food costs?
Not immediately. Try raising the price by 10-15% first, or modify the recipe with less expensive ingredients. Only remove if these adjustments fail.
How do I handle dishes that are signature items but lose money?
Signature dishes deserve special treatment. Gradually increase the price over 2-3 months, or find creative ways to reduce ingredient costs without changing the taste profile.
What's the maximum number of dishes I should remove at once?
Never more than 2-3 dishes per menu update. Customers need time to discover new favorites, and too many changes create confusion.
How frequently should I analyze my menu for underperforming dishes?
Review monthly if possible, but quarterly at minimum. Ingredient prices fluctuate constantly, and seasonal sales patterns can shift dish profitability dramatically.
Can seasonal dishes justify higher food costs temporarily?
Yes, but set strict limits. Seasonal specials can run 40-45% food cost if they drive traffic and complement profitable items. Track their overall impact on weekly profits.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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